Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger' in Man Booker Prize 2008 shortlist

London, Sept. 9 : HarperCollins India today announced the short listing of Aravind Adiga's "The White Tiger" for the 2008 Man Booker Prize for Fiction.

The book has been short-listed from the 13 titles long-listed on July 29, 2008.

Michael Portillo former MP and Cabinet Minister chaired this year's judging panel. He was joined by Alex Clark, editor of Granta; Louise Doughty, novelist; James Heneage, founder of Ottakar's bookshops and Hardeep Singh Kohli, TV and radio broadcaster.

The shortlist was announced at a press conference at the Man Group plc offices in London today. The winner will be announced on October 14 at a dinner at the Guildhall, London. The announcement will be broadcast live on BBC One's 10 o'clock News.

The winner receives 50,000 pounds and can look forward to greatly increased sales and worldwide recognition.

Each of the six short-listed authors, including the winner, receives 2,500 pounds and a designer bound edition of their own book.

The other short listed titles are: Sebastian Barry for "The Secret Scripture", Amitav Ghosh for "Sea of Poppies", Linda Grant for "The Clothes on Their Backs" and Steve Toltz for "A Fraction of the Whole".

Michael Portillo, Chair of judges, said: "The judges commend the six titles to readers with great enthusiasm. These novels are intensely readable, each of them an extraordinary example of imagination and narrative. These fine page-turning stories nonetheless raise highly thought-provoking ideas and issues. These books are in every case both ambitious and approachable."

The White Tiger is a compelling first novel about the new India that is growing roots all around us, in unexpected and often ominous ways.

ANI